featured book

featured book

The Penguin Book of Historic Speeches

Format

Price

$18.00

Paperback

ISBN 9780241953266

528 Pages

28 May 2013

Penguin Books

18 and up

Overview

The definitive collection of famous speeches by some of the most important figures in world history—newly repackaged

In this superb companion volume to the acclaimed Penguin Book of Twentieth-Century Speeches, veteran journalist Brian MacArthur brings together the words of more than one hundred influential men and women who changed and inspired the world through the sheer power of their oratory.

This newly updated edition includes the best speeches in history from notable modern political figures such as Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as famed historical figures such as Moses, Cicero, and Socrates. Helpfully broken out into categories such as Ancient Times (Moses, Jesus, Mohammed), The Birth of the United States (John Hancock, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin), and Women’s Liberation (Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, Betty Freidan), this indispensable reference deserves a spot on the shelf of every student, armchair historian, and teacher.

Praise

“Impeccable. Macarthur prefaces each address with a shot but scholarly historical explanation that sets the scene perfectly. An attractive volume with a splendidly pithy introduction.” – The Sunday Times (London)

“MacArthur wisely [concentrates] on certain political conflicts – gathering together the oratory of the American Civil War or the campaign for female suffrage. His book works well not just as an anthology but as a history of those episodes.” – The Independent